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IARC
The IARC, or International Auto Racing Championship, is a conglomerate of formerly independent racing leagues across the world. The American Racing Championship Series and Global Touring Car League formed the league. Other organizations joined, mainly the V8 Supercar Series. Many minor leagues joined for stability, and driver unions were enticed by the direct line to prestigious racing leagues. American Racing Championship Series The ARCS ran from 1983 until 2013. It was formed when the Chrysler-backed Automobile Championship Series began to fail, and joined Ford and GM's Stock Car Auto Tour. The series was renamed to the afformentioned ARCS and a more uniformed rulebook was presented. The series ran smoothly (excluding 1990) until the end of 2007. Team owners began feeling the financial pinch, much like the rest of the country, and an increasingly smaller field began to attempt races. The schedule itself, in search of sponsorship for races, was changed to include more run-of-the-mill tracks, shying from the series' tendency to visit unique or barely-known venues. Fans began to groan of the boring and repetitive races. They were definately correct, especially after many owners admitted they forced drivers to not be aggressive to save equipment. This culminated in the 2013 mid-season, when a small-time online petition went viral, eventually seats at races and in front of the T.V. were empty. The scheduled 20 races were cut to 16 after the announcement of the IARC Global Touring Car League The GTCL formed was started in 1979 by the World Open Wheel League to rival stock car racing. From the 1930s until 1975, open wheel and other "prototype" cars held the crown of American racing. In fact, 5 races of the 18 scheduled annually of the Global Forza Open Series were held in the U.S. from 1964-1975. In the early 70s, the stamdard open wheel car had changed drastically. They were able to reach 300 kph (about 200 mph) and take corners at unprecedented speeds, still with flimsy bodies and exposed drivers. The ovals (and a freak accident at Willow Springs) were not kind to the series. Seattle, Indianapolis, Grand Detour, and Milwaukee all had at least one participant die in a crash. Open wheel cars, obviously excluding Indianapolis, have not returned to the States since. However, in an attempt to regain control of the American market, they proposed a "Touring" car series. Touring cars were like stock cars, instead they were modified for performance and safety, instead of (mostly) just the latter that the ACS and SCAT cars boasted. The American Touring Car Challenge lasted only 3 seasons. Racegoers griped about the lack of familiarity, with the foreign driver base and modified cars that were made off-shore, and the competition itself. The WOWL openly admitted it was a "filler" series that was made of "former rejects, outcasts, untalented wannabe's, and the occasional up-and-comer". After the complete lack of interest, the series went international. The series, now known as the Eastern Touring Car League (although at least one race technically took place in the western hemisphere, it is widely believed the series title was a cheap shot directed to Americans) ran into similar problems in Australia. After the 1988 series lockout, the directors of the series decided to cut ties with the WOWL. Beginning in 1990, the series returned, with an exclusively European schedule. The series filled a nice niche and flourished in that environment. Much like America, however, European countries fell under extremely tough times. Similar to the ARCS, the 2013 season was cut short due to a lack of funding. 2 weeks later, league officials announced the IARC. V8 Supercar Series and other leagues The V8 Supercar Series started off of the Eastern Touring Car League's involvement in Australia. Changes were made to the cars to greatly enhance parity between teams and resemblance to street cars. Fans instantly fell in love with a top-tier league finally caring about Australians. However, Australia never really had large economic issues, so the Australian V8 Series (outside of OWL series) was the only prestigious racing series to finish its season. The series officials decided to join the IARC to expand its market. Many smaller leagues and series were also allowed to join the IARC. The South American V6 Series, American Late Model League, and Canadian Racing Championship were most notable. The ALML and CRC were merged to make a stock-car series to be a development league for the Mobil 1 World Racing Series (formerly ARCS).